Typical building fire alarm systems include a number of fire detection devices located throughout a building. The devices include smoke detectors, heat sensors, pull stations and like devices. Normally, these devices are connected in loops and are monitored for alarm and trouble conditions at a central control panel. The loops are distributed throughout zones of an industrial plant, office or residential building.
Alarm and/or trouble indicators are located at the control panel to indicate in which zone the alarm and/or trouble condition is located. The alarm or trouble indicators may be LEDs and/or an alphanumeric display. A yellow LED usually indicates a trouble condition and a red LED usually indicates an alarm condition. A trouble condition may be caused by the removal of a device, faulty system wiring and the like. A tone alarm may be generated at the control panel to announce that a trouble condition has been detected. The tone alarm can be silenced by an operator authorized access to the control panel. During an alarm condition, audible devices are sounded throughout the zones of the building. These devices may include horns, bells and like devices. Light strobes may also be located throughout the building to provide a visual alarm.
A walk through test of each device verifies that each device is connected to the system in its assigned location. Before performing a walk through test, a human tester places the control panel in a test mode. When performing a walk through test, the tester places a device in an alarm or trouble condition. The control panel receives a signal from a sensing device identifying the location of the device and whether there is an alarm or trouble condition. The tester then must communicate with the control panel operator as to whether the alarm or trouble condition was properly detected by the control panel and whether the device is located in the proper zone. A communications channel is setup between the tester and a control panel operator. The communication channel may be set up through a pair of two-way radios, cellular phones or like devices. The control panel operator then resets the alarm or trouble condition at the control panel and the tester moves onto the next device to be tested.
A single tester walk through test such as presented in U.S. Pat. No. 4,725,818, allows the tester to place a device in an alarm or trouble condition. In test mode, the control panel senses the location of the device and whether there is an alarm or trouble condition. The control panel then audibly sounds a code, associated with the devices address, throughout the audible devices located in the system or zone. The tester listens to the code and verifies the location of the device by matching the code to a list of device addresses for all devices in the system. The control panel automatically resets the tripped device so the tester can move to the next device to test.